The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1887-07-30
"At least she ought to have in


her future husband, you know"
This allusion to his coming mar
riage with my worshipped angel
nearly drove me wild.
l controlled myself as well as l
could and merely said:
| 81 hope you will find your money
affairs all correct, and not have to
take away or add anything"
"Thank you; hope l SHALL" he
blandly answered.
l turned away abruptly to seek
what | came for and leave the
building.
AS was about to depart, in no
enviable frame of mind, he called
out:
II suppose you will report what
you have discovered, and as much
! to my injury as possible !"
Probably you are judging me
by yourself; but / will thank
you to understand that l am too
much of a gentleman to be tale
bearer"
"All right, then, and good
night !" he said.
Being too angry to respond /
hurried out and locked the door
without saying another word.
l returned the key to the porter !;
but / did not mention to him, nor
to anyone else, the fact of my hav-
ing met my fellow-clerk in the
building, under circumstances so
calculated to excite suspicion of
his being there for an evil purpose.
In this | am certain | did wrong /;
but l was young then, without ex-
perience I'm the evil ways of man
kind, strictly honest and honorable
myself, and possessed too much
pride to demean myself to the low
condition of n tale bearer.
/ reasoned, too, that if my rival
had originally designed to rob his
employer, he would not do it after
what had occurred, and that |
really had no right to injure his
reputation merely because he had
been chosen from all the world by
the fair being who was all the world
to me.
1t was something like n month
after this event, that | was one day
fearfully startled and shocked at
suddenly finding myself under ar
rest for stealing money from my
employer.
Notwithstanding that / knew
myself to be entirely innocent the
very fact that snould be suspected
of such nefarious transaction
nealy Gu she'd me with shame.
Judge of my unbounded amaze
ment and horror then on being as
sured that marked money had been
found in my trunk, that the
amount of thousand pounds had
been distracted within the last few
weeks, that my fellow clerk and
rival had suspected me ever since
the night ESQ he swore) he had seen
me coming out of the store, and
that the porter had ALREADY given
evidence of my having borrowed
his key to enter the building at
that unreasonable hour.
l comprehended at once that this
was a most fiendish plot of my
rival to get me out of the way and
shield his own dishonesty, for he
alone had robbed his employer and
profited by it.
What could / do?
NV statement of the fact that /
had entered the premises for another
purpose was not believed; and
when / added the whole truth of
what l had seen there | was simply
regarded as a cOld-blooded rascal,
who was trying to involve an inno-
cent young man in my own ruin.
Ali my previous life of probity
went for nothing, or only stood out,
white-robed, to make my later acts
appear more dark and damning.
Well, to be brief, l was tried
and convicted, and sent to the penal
servitude for a term Of years.
She, who was my idol, was pres
ent when the awful verdict "Guilty"
was pronounced by the jury; and |
shall never forget the mournful look
of pity with which she regarded me
i'm the felon's dock, leaning on the
arm of my wicked rival and de-
strOyer.
Before 1 left the place of my
misery and degradation, l had the
satisfaction of seeing my hated RI
val there, in the convict garb just
ly brought there by his evil deeds.
After my release / learned that his
wife died of broken heart.
That was the end of life for me.
SLAVES IN GEORGIA.